


Rain

by extraordinary



Category: Free!
Genre: Day #1, Future Fish Au, M/M, Pure Crack, Rinharu Week, cop!Rin, vigilante hero!Haruka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-20
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:03:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2644301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extraordinary/pseuds/extraordinary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're an imposter, aren't you?" Rin finally tries again, raising a haughty eyebrow underneath his visor. "It was awfully easy to get you into the back of my car."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Super wacky Future Fish AU inspired by an [equally wacky doodle](http://sexuallyfrustratedshark.tumblr.com/post/103079618104/fic-rain-chapter-one-1254-words-rinharu-week) by sexuallyfrustratedshark. Written 90% for her, and 10% Rinharu Week Day #1!

Rin hasn't radioed it in yet.

  
Why the fuck hasn't he radioed it in yet? There's absolutely no logical reason for him to be hesitating right now. None whatsoever. It'll get him that promotion he's been working so hard towards ever since his very first day on the force—no to mention that it'll finally get him the recognition he deserves. If he ever wants to move out of the dingy flat he's been sharing with his best friend for the last couple of months... well, then he could really use the raise. 

  
Instead of pressing his thumb down on the button of the microphone resting uselessly in the palm of his hand, and contacting dispatch like he ought to, Rin is shamelessly staring at the creature on the back seat of his patrol vehicle through the rear-view mirror. The image is slightly distorted through the plastic screen in between them, but he can very clearly make out the strange set of eyes watching his every move. Their impromptu stare-down is a very welcome distraction from the occasional bead of water trailing down the back of his neck, not to mention the way his shirt and pants are clinging uncomfortably to his skin.

  
"I'm gonna radio it in now," Rin tells it, distractedly reaching his free hand up to run his fingers through his hair despite the fact that he's still wearing his positively soaked service cap—his knuckles hit the edge of his plastic visor with a surprisingly loud thunk, upsetting it's precarious perch on his head and undoubtedly making him _look like an idiot_ in the process. "You doing all right back there?"

  
There's no response.

  
Not that Rin had genuinely been expecting one: the _thing_ has yet to speak a word to him, after all. It stubbornly remained silent throughout its arrest. If you could even call what had happened an arrest in the first place: Rin hadn't needed to disarm it because it obviously hadn't been carrying any weapons (where would such an unusual creature even hide any weapons?!), and the only reason he'd even bothered with a frisk search was because it just happened to be a mandatory part of his job. They'd both gotten absolutely soaked in the process—courtesy of a seemingly relentless early summer shower beating down on them.

  
And, well, the creature had looked expectantly at him... almost _challenging_ , really. As if it didn't think Rin had the guts to touch those intriguing, impossibly shiny scales. It had been fucking infuriating. Honestly.

  
Rin had wanted to prove him—no, _it_ , definitely it!— wrong, so that's what he had done. The shiny scales had felt foreign under his gloveless hands: unsurprisingly slippery, and perhaps a little more fragile than he'd expected. Rin had been as gentle as he could because he hadn't been able to shake the niggling thought that the fish-like creature had suffered an unseen injury prior to its arrest. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he honestly doubted he'd ever have been able to apprehend the creature if it _hadn't_ been injured.

  
After all, there must be a reason none of his colleagues had ever had the pleasure of boasting about catching Mackerel-man—yes, _that_ was the ridiculous name the press had bestowed this idiot with!—yet, and while Rin is certainly confident in his own skills... something just didn't feel right about the entire situation.

  
"You're an imposter, aren't you?" Rin finally tries again, raising a haughty eyebrow underneath his visor. "It _was_ awfully easy to get you into the back of my car."

  
There is still no reply, although Rin's fairly certain he wasn't imagining the slight narrowing of those peculiar eyes. He reluctantly places the microphone back into its holder and desperately tries to convince himself he simply wants to avoid any stray drops of rain water from sliding down the brim of his cap and damaging his equipment.

  
"Can you talk at all?" Rin asks, a little more authoritatively this time. He finds that he genuinely wants to know.

  
This time, though, he gets an unexpected yet unmistakable response: the weird purple fins on each side of the creature's head droop dejectedly. Well, that's a pretty obvious 'no', right? That's good. Rin can _work_ with this.

  
He waits for them to hesitantly straighten out again, then asks his next question: "D'you always look like this, then?"

  
Rin had been closely watching _the fins_ for a response, so he hadn't seen the irritated rolling of its eyes coming at all. Rin snorts, despite himself, shrugging one shoulder in a wordless apology for his accidental slight. He's not entirely sure what to make of that reaction, though.

  
Is the creature offended by the implication that it looks pretty fucking weird to Rin? Perhaps it's simply annoyed because it thinks the answer should be obvious. If Ryugazaki were here, he'd probably tell Rin that the likelihood of someone looking like this 24/7 while successfully avoiding unwanted attention for so long is extremely low—as soon as he'd managed to finish freaking out over the beauty of the creature's scales and its perfectly pointed yellow beak (or something), of course.

  
"Look, this is nothing personal. It's just my job," Rin explains quietly, before he'd even realised he felt the need to do so. "You helped my sister out a while ago, you know? She told me some jerks were bothering her after work, and you sent them flying with that weird tail of yours."

  
Rin isn't sure why he's divulging all of this. He should really stop stalling _and report his arrest_.

  
Except, no... that's a lie, isn't it? He knows why. "It's my job to catch the bad guys," he starts, turning around in his seat to regard the vigilante slash street-hero on his rear bench directly. "So why do I get the feeling _you're_ not one of them?"

* * *

  
Haruka tiredly stumbles in through the open window. He almost slips on the soaked kitchen towel he’d almost forgotten to leave underneath the window sill before heading out—shaky fingers clutching the curtains just in time—as he clumsily makes his way inside.

  
The air inside the apartment is significantly warmer than outside, but he’s still shivering by the time he has managed to pick up the towel and rinse it out in the sink. He leaves a trail of wet foot prints behind as he practically limps towards the bathroom, sighing in relief when he notices Makoto hasn’t yet drained the tub for the night.

  
That had been a close call. Far, _far_ too close.

  
If Rin—no, if Officer Matsuoka had detained him just a little longer Haruka wouldn’t have been able to stop his transformation from happening right there on the back seat of the car. The result would’ve been disastrous to say the least; Haruka is incredibly grateful he’d been told ‘get the hell out!’, despite the long and uncomfortable trek back to his apartment. He’d been careless tonight, and had already resigned himself to paying the price long before Rin had cautiously placed his hand on the holstered gun at his hips.

  
Haruka had always believed he knew, better than _anyone_ , how Rin feels about Mackerel-man. He is Rin’s golden ticket to a promotion, isn’t he? Then why isn’t Haruka currently sitting in a holding cell…?

  
Rin—uniformed, or off duty—might be Haruka’s favourite customer at the café… but Haruka would do well to remember to never let his guard down around him again. He’d be risking so much more than Rin’s tentative friendship, after all.


End file.
